Though the story starts out much the same as the original games, it very quickly goes in a completely different direction. Not least because of Saren revealing his own Jaegers and Kaiju, all enhanced with space age technology. One very obvious change is the fact that there are two Shepards, male and female. One raised in space, the other in the ghettos of China. The differences that are caused by their different backgrounds are one of the things explored in-story.

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The story also has a lot of characters in it, some who were mentioned, but didn't appear in game, other who show up far earlier than usual.

All Your Powers Combined: Neptune Overlord has both a sentinel shield and a vanguard charge ability, due to Jane and John being those classes. When Ashley joins them, he also exhibits the adrenaline rush possibly showing his abilities change based on who is piloting him.

Alternate Universe: By the time the story takes place, humanity has been using Jaegers and Drifting for decades, other races have started creating Jaegers of their own, and Kaiju still attack Earth. Ashley Williams is also a N7 soldier with a family known for winning the battle of Shanxi, Garrus' father is a councilor, Liara and Mordin have been studying the Kaiju on Ilium...

Audible Sharpness: When John and Jane obtain Avalon units, basically a hilt that create an omni-blade of any size and shape, John starts playing with it, creating a 'shing' sound every time he turns it on.

Badass Bookworm: Mordin is in top form here, nearly taking out as many enemies in Saren's warehouse as the rest of John's squad put together.

Badass Crew: The entirety of the Shepards' team. Each one gets a chance to shine in battle.

Badass Family: The Shepards. John and Jane prove to be quite the badasses in their own right. Not seen with Hannah Shepard yet, but being the Captain of her own ship makes it a near-given. Garrus and his dad also show shades of this.

Badass Normal: Ashley Williams, with no biotics or tech abilities, has no trouble keeping up with her crewmates. Zaeed Massani is similar, taking down guards with ease with nothing more than an assault rifle and grenades.

Bash Brothers: Jane and John show shades of this when they fight alongside each other, which is par for the course with Jaeger pilots.

This is Tali's reaction when she is asked to help name the mini-kaiju that crashed into the citadel.

Also Wrex's reaction when Joker is told to shoot the flying kaiju while the krogan is leaning against the Normandy's main gun.

Genius Bruiser: Jane Shepard, who not only loves fighting, but spends a lot of time hacking people for fun (Also see Sherlock Scan). Tali is also this, and John shows intelligence of his own.

Gilligan Cut: Kaiden asks John if Ashley was going to feel any side effects from Drifting with both of the Shepards while under the effect of the Beacon. John tells him she'll be fine. Cuts to Ashley wondering why she has to stop herself from saying "I should go."

Godzilla Threshold: Played with when Anderson decides to send Neptune Overlord down to John and Jane. It's enough to make the Council call them in. The Jaegers themselves are also noted as being this, with one person comparing them to nuclear bombs. (Not an unfair comparison)

Humongous Mecha: All over the place. It is a Pacific Rim Crossover after all. Notable mentions are Neptune Overlord, the Geth Jaegers, and the Asari Jaegers. Presumubly most Council races have some sort of Jaeger.

Lampshade Hanging: Happens several times. One example includes Tali commenting on the puzzle game being the security system for the citadel.

Loads and Loads of Characters: A lot of Mass Effect's already huge cast shows up, as well as some people who were mentioned in the games, but never showed up, such as Garrus' father.

More Dakka: Invoked twice in chapter 14 with the Normandy firing upon the Kaiju known as Baolo-Molo. The author himself said that it may have been a bit overboard.note Which implies that there was too much Dakka. Wanna know what I say to that? MORE DAKKA.

Mundane Utility: The Drift technology. You know, that masterpiece of humanity, made to control enormous Mecha for fighting huge monsters from another dimension? Humanity's edge over all the alien races? The twins are using it for multiplayer games. They also use it to share memories.

Only Sane Man: Kaiden is this when compared to the rest of the Normandy crew.

Playful Hacker: Jane has a habit of hacking into peoples omni-tools for nothing other than curiosity. Becomes a Chekov's Skill when she hacks Councilor Tevos' Omni-tool to get the crew permission to dock on Ilium.

Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: It's Mass Effect. What do you expect? Even John thinks of them as a "group of random badasses."

Rule of Cool: Why can Neptune Overlord fit inside of the Normandy, then pop out at random to do battle? The author came up with several reasons, but admitted in the end that he just thinks its awesome.

Rocket Punch: Invoked when Ashley uses a human sized version to slam her fist into a Krogan's skull hard enough to immediately knock him out. Which is a real thing in the Mass Effect games- it's an omnitool you can equip in Multiplayer mode of Mass Effect 3 called the "Enforcement Gauntlet."

Separated at Birth: Jane was presumed killed in a Kaiju attack, which is why she's Earthborn while John has the Spacer background.

Sherlock Scan: Jane pulls one on Saren, pointing out the various holes in his story for why he's on Eden Prime.

Superpower Lottery: Neptune Overlord in spades. Not only does the Jaeger have standard robot strength, but he can also create plasma swords, create a sentinel shield and even do a vanguard charge. Apparently his powers depend on the class of those piloting him, meaning he may be capable of everything a Normandy crew member within him can do.

Which makes sense. Having a giant robot that only works with two people and their special skills would mean that no one outside of those two people (or those with similar power sets) could use it to its maximum effectiveness.

Tempting Fate: On Illium, one of the Asari dockworkers states that she wouldn't let them dock even if they had Councelor Tevos on speed dial. Jane, who hacked Tevos' omnitool earlier, does have Tevos on speed dial. Hilarity Ensues.

In Mordin and Liara's lab, after being attacked by a miniature Kaiju (and killing it in seconds), Wrex deliberately invokes this by claiming that it was "Too easy." Cue many other monsters.

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